StressShady
I am Jack's wasted life
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2019
- Posts
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Post your Contributions below, not mine but read-worthy
So I was doing a heavy amount of research on the recovery process and I noticed that there was a tremendous amount of misinformation on here about the recovery process.
I'm not the type of person to get motivated behind something unless there's some legitimate science backing it up, so I decided to provide some "facts" behind NoFap in order to help others out.
I put quotation marks around facts because at the end of the day the human body is VERY complicated, so the experts nor I can assert anything with 100% certainty (nothing in science can be proven, only substantiated). They don't call the brain "the most complicated object in the universe" just for the lulz.
These "facts" come from scientific studies, experts, and very closely related materials. If you have any corrections to add be sure to let me know (and provide the source) so I can update this.
"FACT" #1: Fapping causes increased levels of Prolactin which decreases the production of testosterone. This means that you'll end up with more estrogen in your body (i.e. you'll have an increase likelihood of having man boobs). Less testosterone = LESS sex drive (libido), less bone mass more fat distribution, less muscle mass and strength, and less production of red blood cells and sperm
"FACT" #2: Fapping leads to the accumulation of DeltaPhos-B in the reward circuit, this means that because you've injected your brain with "EXTREME" levels of dopamine (typically 2-10 times more overall than you would of gotten from natural rewards such as sex), your brain therefore gets saturated with more of this substance. In doing so the build up of this protein makes you hypersensitive to porn and makes everything else seem significantly less exciting. This is going to take on average 56 days to resolve (give or take).
"FACT" #3: Anhedonia: This is something I don't see covered on here too often (which is critically important). anhedonia is also called the "silent depression" because mostly people dont realize its a form of depression. You will feel EMOTIONALLY NUMB, I'm currently going through this right now and its god awful. Now this may not apply to everyone, but this certainly has fucked me up personally. It's a very common withdrawal symptom of alcoholics, marijuana users, cocaine users, AND EXCESS NATURAL REWARD CONSUMPTION. DAMAGED/LOST DOPAMINE RECEPTORS AND FRONTAL CORTEX CHANGES is the cause of this. I cant even look people in the eye anymore!!
"FACT" #4: Say goodbye to your body's equilibrium of Serotonin, Dopamine, and MORE: You can pretty much say goodbye to VIRTUALLY ALL of the positive hormones in your body because of this instability. This is because hormones such as dopamine and serotonin are NEURO-TRANSMITTERS. in other-words they travel from YOUR BRAIN to your body using neural pathways (and you remember what happened to those, right?). Serotonin plays a critical role in REGULATING YOUR EMOTIONS.
"FACT" #5: NoFap is NOT a 90 day magic cure: Dopamine transporters and neural pathways DO NOT magically regrow in 90 days. Can you make significant progress in 90 days? Absolutely. But its dangerous to say to people that 90 days will fix all their addiction related problems. Research indicates that it takes at least 6 months to 1 year for dopamine receptors (as well as neural networks that are responsible for serotonin) to fully regrow / or repair.
I can add alot more to this, but some of the other stuff is based on different drugs so I wanna do my best to abstain from diluting my findings. But remember, regardless if its cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, or alcohol, ALL ADDICTIONS SHARE THE SAME MOLECULAR SWITCH: DELTAPHOS-B. The only difference is the protein's degree of influence (as well as the hormones involved and the potency of the drug).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHAT TO EXPECT
So I was doing a heavy amount of research on the recovery process and I noticed that there was a tremendous amount of misinformation on here about the recovery process.
I'm not the type of person to get motivated behind something unless there's some legitimate science backing it up, so I decided to provide some "facts" behind NoFap in order to help others out.
I put quotation marks around facts because at the end of the day the human body is VERY complicated, so the experts nor I can assert anything with 100% certainty (nothing in science can be proven, only substantiated). They don't call the brain "the most complicated object in the universe" just for the lulz.
These "facts" come from scientific studies, experts, and very closely related materials. If you have any corrections to add be sure to let me know (and provide the source) so I can update this.
"FACT" #1: Fapping causes increased levels of Prolactin which decreases the production of testosterone. This means that you'll end up with more estrogen in your body (i.e. you'll have an increase likelihood of having man boobs). Less testosterone = LESS sex drive (libido), less bone mass more fat distribution, less muscle mass and strength, and less production of red blood cells and sperm
"FACT" #2: Fapping leads to the accumulation of DeltaPhos-B in the reward circuit, this means that because you've injected your brain with "EXTREME" levels of dopamine (typically 2-10 times more overall than you would of gotten from natural rewards such as sex), your brain therefore gets saturated with more of this substance. In doing so the build up of this protein makes you hypersensitive to porn and makes everything else seem significantly less exciting. This is going to take on average 56 days to resolve (give or take).
"FACT" #3: Anhedonia: This is something I don't see covered on here too often (which is critically important). anhedonia is also called the "silent depression" because mostly people dont realize its a form of depression. You will feel EMOTIONALLY NUMB, I'm currently going through this right now and its god awful. Now this may not apply to everyone, but this certainly has fucked me up personally. It's a very common withdrawal symptom of alcoholics, marijuana users, cocaine users, AND EXCESS NATURAL REWARD CONSUMPTION. DAMAGED/LOST DOPAMINE RECEPTORS AND FRONTAL CORTEX CHANGES is the cause of this. I cant even look people in the eye anymore!!
"FACT" #4: Say goodbye to your body's equilibrium of Serotonin, Dopamine, and MORE: You can pretty much say goodbye to VIRTUALLY ALL of the positive hormones in your body because of this instability. This is because hormones such as dopamine and serotonin are NEURO-TRANSMITTERS. in other-words they travel from YOUR BRAIN to your body using neural pathways (and you remember what happened to those, right?). Serotonin plays a critical role in REGULATING YOUR EMOTIONS.
"FACT" #5: NoFap is NOT a 90 day magic cure: Dopamine transporters and neural pathways DO NOT magically regrow in 90 days. Can you make significant progress in 90 days? Absolutely. But its dangerous to say to people that 90 days will fix all their addiction related problems. Research indicates that it takes at least 6 months to 1 year for dopamine receptors (as well as neural networks that are responsible for serotonin) to fully regrow / or repair.
I can add alot more to this, but some of the other stuff is based on different drugs so I wanna do my best to abstain from diluting my findings. But remember, regardless if its cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, or alcohol, ALL ADDICTIONS SHARE THE SAME MOLECULAR SWITCH: DELTAPHOS-B. The only difference is the protein's degree of influence (as well as the hormones involved and the potency of the drug).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------WHAT TO EXPECT
- Grumpiness – Every little thing will irritate you. For me, I became extremely cynical about everything around me.
- Mood swings – As your brain tries to rebalance itself, you’ll feel like a teenage girl having her first period… Happy one minute and on the verge of tears the next. Seriously.
- Headaches – I didn’t ever experience intense migraines like some men report, but I did get subtle pressure headaches that lasted for hours at a time.
- Anxiety – Some men have legitimate panic attacks, but I experienced this more as a general feeling of stress. From the first three days for the next three months, I always felt like I had way too much to do.
- Pornographic Thoughts – Temptation during the first week is extremely intense. This is because your last pornographic experience is still fresh on your mind.
- Zombie-like State – Because your brain has been deprived of its regular Dopamine highs, it’s common for abstainers to enter a sluggish, zombie-like state. Expect low energy levels to last anywhere from two weeks to two months.
- Unable to Focus – I could not work efficiently in the first few weeks after I quit. The constant fatigue somehow made me feel restless, and things that normally took 30 minutes were now taking an hour. I had no motivation and no focus.
- Social Awkwardness – It’s hard to accurately describe this symptom, but many men echoed that they felt awkward or exposed in social settings. It feels like you constantly have your foot in your mouth.
- Low Sex Drive – You might expect your sex drive to be bursting at the seams after going without porn for a week or two, but many men report the exact opposite. Although porn will still ignite temptation when you think about it, any other sexual activity may not sound appealing while your brain reboots.
- Loneliness – Single men especially will have trouble with this one. You’ll experience loneliness, and you’ll want to escape it with porn. Don’t give in!
- Episodes of Extreme Arousal - Due to the significant impact that masturbation has on hormonal regulation, low serotonin levels lead to a significantly increase urge to perform dopamine producing activities (i.e fapping, eating sugary foods, etc, etc.. be careful with this one)!!
- Inability to Sleep - Periodic episodes of high dopamine levels will cause this due to your brain constantly struggling to reach an equilibrium in terms of hormonal balance (waking up every 2hrs included)!!
- Numbed Pleasure Response
- Hyper-Sensitivity to Porn/ or Cocaine/ or Alcohol/or Marajuna
- Will-Power Erosion
